For many manufacturers, additive manufacturing is still viewed primarily as a prototyping tool. Canada Makes member Windsor Test Solutions is challenging that assumption every day by using industrial 3D printing to create opportunities to improve performance, simplify manufacturing processes, and solve complex engineering challenges in production environments.

Based in Windsor, Ontario, Windsor Test Solutions specializes in custom electrical connections, quality testing fixtures, and industrial additive manufacturing solutions. Their team brings over 30 years of combined experience in test engineering, product design, manufacturing engineering, and automation design. This gives their team the knowledge and ability to work closely with customers to ensure parts are not only printable, but functional, reliable, and optimized for real-world applications.

Rather than acting as a simple print provider, the company takes an engineering-first approach. Customers often come to Windsor Test Solutions with either an existing design or a performance requirement, and the team evaluates everything from print orientation and loading forces to environmental conditions and impact resistance before production begins. This upfront analysis is what separates a part that prints successfully from a part that performs reliably in service.

This collaborative approach recently helped solve a manufacturing challenge involving a chip extraction component for a milling process. Due to the complex geometry the part could only be produced with additive manufacturing, however several features were identified that could not be manufactured as designed. The Windsor Test Solutions team worked directly with the customer to redesign the part while maintaining the required airflow and structural performance.

The company has also leveraged additive manufacturing to improve electrical testing fixtures used in automotive and EV battery applications. By more accurately replicating complex geometries, Windsor Test Solutions helps customers reduce poor electrical connections and minimize false negative tests, improving efficiency on manufacturing lines. This provides our customers with a quantifiable improvement in their day to day operations.

Looking ahead Windsor Test Solutions Engineering Manager Tony Kwok sees the biggest opportunity for additive manufacturing in identifying niche industrial applications where the technology’s design freedom, reduced tooling costs, and faster iteration cycles offer a clear advantage over conventional methods.

“It’s about finding those opportunities where additive manufacturing can simplify a process or improve an existing solution in a way traditional manufacturing can’t,” he says.

Canada Makes is proud to highlight Windsor Test Solutions and looks forward to supporting their continued innovation in industrial additive manufacturing.